Underwater speaking device



AJuly 22, 1958* w. F. HGAN .E1-AL 2,844,212

UNDERWATER SPEAKING DEVICE Y Filed April 16, 1956 NLM uw @mm www New .MW .Mm W n M MM Ld r W H UNDERWATER SPEAKING DEVICE William F. Hogan andJack D. McNeal,

Long Beach, Calif.

Application April 16, 1956, Serial No. v578,254

1 Claim. (Cl. 181-18) The present invention relates generally tounderwater breathing apparatus and more particularly to a speakingdevice for use therewith.

It is a major object of the present invention to provide a new and novelunderwater speaking device.

`,A more particular object is to provide a speaking device which may beused with underwater breathing apparatus so as to permit a diver tovocally communicate with others located either below the water or at thesurface thereof. The provision of this speaking device eliminates thedevice for hand signaling and aords an important degree of safety to adiver.

Another object of the invention is to provide an underl water speakingdevice which will not interfere in any way with the divers breathing.

Yet a further object is to provide an underwater speaking device whichis light in weight and compact in size in order that it will notinterfere with the divers actions.

An additional object is to provide a device of this nature which isrugged in design and simple of construction whereby it may afford a longand trouble-free service life.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide an underwaterspeaking device which is foolproof in operation having'no moving partsto get out of order.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an underwater speakingdevice which may be readily installedy upon conventional underwaterbreathing apparatus.

Yet another object is to provide a device of the aforedescribed naturewhich may be manufactured at low cost so as to be available to a largemarket.

These and other objects and advantages of the presenty United StatesPatent O Referring to the drawings, the preferred form of undery waterspeaking device S is disclosed in conjunction with conventionalself-contained underwater breathing apparatus B. The latter includes amouth piece 10 which in Figure 1 is shown in position within the mouthof a diver D. The underwater breathing apparatus also includes ilexible,corrugated intake and exhaust hoses 12 and an air tank (not shown).

The mouthpiece 10 is of hollow construction and its front wall 14 isformed with a bore 16. The speaking device S includes a generallyfrusto-conical body 18 having a coaxial rearwardly extending neck 20.The neck 20 is formed with external threads 22. The mouthpiece bore 16snugly receives the neck 20 and the latter is rigidly secured thereto bya nut element 24. A rubber sealing washer or gasket 26 is interposedbetween the front surface of the wall 14 and the rear surface of the2,844,212 Patentedv July 22k, 1958 ICC cone portion 28 of the body 18.The body 18 will pref-i erably be of integral construction and mayconveniently be molded of plastic. The large end of the cone 28 islocated at the front of the body 18 and is open. A voice conductingpassage 30 is coaxially formed through the neck 20.

As shown in Figure 2, the front portion of the cone 28 is formed with anannular rearwardly extending recess 32. A exible diaphragm 34 is rigidlymaintained within the rear portion of this recess 32 by a protectorelement 36. The protector element 36 is formed with a plurality ofapertures 38. The diaphragm 34 may be formed of any material which willreadily undergo vibration under the influence of sound waves issuingfrom the divers mouth. Yet, the diaphragm must be suiciently rigid towithstand sub-surface pressures. Brass having a thickness of between.001 to .002 inch has beenfound to be suitable for this purpose. It iscontemplated that pastic may also prove to be a suitable material fromwhich to form the diaphragm. The protector 36 serves to preventinadvertent damage to the diaphragm 34. This protector 36 may be formedof a plastic and it should be rigidly secured within the recess 32 as bya bondingV agent. The protector is formed over a major portion of itsarea with a plurality of sound-admitting apertures 38.

The operation of the speaking device embodying the present inventionwill be apparent from the foregoing description. When the diver D wishesto communicate K with another person the vibrations of his voice willeffect concurrent vibrations of the diaphragm 34. l Such vibration ofthe diaphragm will create sound waves in the water of suicient intensitythat they may be heard by a person located up to sixty feet away. It isalso possible for persons located above the surface of the water to hearthe divers voice.

While there has been shown and described hereinbefore what is presentlyconsidered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention, itwill be apparent that various modifications and changes may be madethereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scopeof the following claim.

We claim:

An underwater speaking device for use with underwater breathingapparatus having a mouthpiece formed in its front portion With a bore,comprising: a generally frusto-conical body having its largest end openand formed with a rearwardly extending annular recess; a circular,flexible diaphragm disposed with the rear end of its recess; an annularprotector having a rearwardly 'extending ange telescopically securedwithin said recess so as to retain said diaphragm therein, saidprotector having a water-tight connection with said body, and saidprotector being formed overa major portion of its area With a pluralityof sound-admitting apertures; a neck coaxially extending rearwardly fromsaid body for insertion within said bore, the rear portion of said neckbeing formed with external threads, and said neck being formed with aycoaxial voice conducting passage; a nut element in said mouthpiecethreadably engageable with said neck; and.

a rubber sealing washer encompassing the front portion of said neckbetween the front of said mouthpiece and the rear of said body. s

References Cited in the le of this patent

